Get all 14 Atwater-Donnelly releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Boat You Row Atwater-Donnelly 2022, The World Is Old Tonight, Each Other's Story 2011, The Weaver's Bonny 2009, The Halfway Ground 2007, When Winter Calls 2005, The Blackest Crow 2004, And Then I'm Going Home 2001, and 6 more.
1. |
A Calling On Song
01:09
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Good people pray heed our petition
Your attention we beg and crave
And if you are inclined for to listen
An abundance of pastime we'll have
We have come to relate many stories
Concerning our foreparents time
And we trust they will drive out your worries
Of this we are all in one mind
Many tales of the poor and the gentry
Of labor and love will arise
There are no finer songs in this country
In Scotland and Ireland likewise
There's one thing more needing mention
The dances will dance all in fun
So now that you've heard our intention
We'll play on to the beat of the drum
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2. |
Broom Of Cowdenknows
03:55
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How blithe each morn was I to see
My lass come o'er the hill
She skipped the burn and ran to me
I met her with good will
Chorus:
Ah the broom, the bonnie, bonnie broom
The broom of the cowdenknows
Fain would I be in my ain country
Herding her father's ewes
She neither herded ewes nor lamb
While flocks a-sleeping lay
She gathered in the sheep at night
And cheered me all the day...Chorus
It's hard that I should banished be
Gang o'er lea and moor
Because I loved the fairest lass
That e'er on earth was born...Chorus
Adieu, ye bonny ewes, adieu
Farewell all pleasures there
To wander by her side again
Is all I crave or care...Chorus 2X
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3. |
Donkey Riding
02:39
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Was you ever in Quebec
Launching timber on the deck?
Where you break your bleeding neck
Riding on a donkey
Chorus:
Way hey and away we go
Donkey riding, donkey riding
Way hey and away we go
Riding on a donkey
Was you ever round Cape Horn
Where the weather's never warm
You wish to God you'd never been born
Riding on a donkey...Chorus
Was you ever in Mobile Bay
Screwing cotton all the day
A dollar a day is Paddy's pay
Riding on a donkey...Chorus
Was you ever in Mirramashee
Where you lie up to a tree
And the girl sits on your knee
Riding on a donkey...Chorus
Was you ever in Canton
Where the men wear pigtails long
And they all move honky kong
Riding on a donkey...Chorus
Was you ever in Broomielaw
Where the yanks are all the go
And the boys dance heel and toe
Riding on a donkey...Chorus
Was you ever in London Town
See the king, he does come down
See the king in his golden crown
Riding on a donkey...Chorus
Was you ever in Liverpool Bay
See the Judy shout hooray
Here comes her Tommy with his 10 months pay...Chorus
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4. |
John Barleycorn
05:19
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There were three men came out of the west
Their fortunes for to try
And these three men made a solemn vow
John Barleycorn must die
They've ploughed, they've sown, they've harrowed him in
Threw clods upon his head
And these three men made a solemn vow
John Barleycorn was dead
They've let him lie for a very long time
Till the rains from heaven did fall
And little Sir John sprung up his head
And so amazed them all
They've let him stand till midsummer's day
Till he looked both pale and wan
And little Sir John's grown a long, long beard
And so become a man
They hired men with the scythes so sharp
To cut him off at the knee
They rolled him and tied him by the waist
Serving him most barbarously
They hired men with the sharp pitchforks
Who pierced him to the heart
And the loader he has served him worse than that
For he's bound him to the cart
They wheeled him around and around the field
Till they came unto a barn
And there they made a solemn oath
On poor John Barleycorn
They hired men with the crab-tree sticks
To core him skin from bone
And the miller he has served him worse than that
For he's ground him between two stones
And little Sir John with his nut-brown bowl
Is brandy in the glass
And little Sir John with his nut-brown bowl
Proved the strongest man at last
The huntsman, he can't hunt the fox
Knows so loudly to blow his horn
And the tinker he can't mend kettle nor pot
Without a little Barleycorn
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5. |
Sonny's Dream
03:15
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Chorus:
Sonny don't go away, I'm here all alone
Your daddy's a sailor who never comes home
Nights are so long, silence goes on
I'm feeling so tired and not all that strong
Sonny works on a farm in a wide open space
Take off your shoes son, stay out of the race
Lay down your head by the soft river bed
Sonny always remembers the words his Mammy said...Chorus
Sonny works on the land though he's barely a man
There's not much to do, he just does what he can
He sits by the window of his room by the stairs
He watches the waves gently wash on the pier
Instrumental
Many years have passed on, Sonny's old and alone
His daddy the sailor never came home
Sometimes he wonders what his life might have been
But from the grave mammy still haunts his dreams...Chorus
Sonny don't go away
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6. |
The King
01:09
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Joy, health, love, and peace be all here in this place
By your leave, we will sing concerning our king
Our king is well dressed, in silks of the best
In ribbons so rare, no king can compare
We have travelled many miles, over hedges and stiles
In search of our king, and to you we bring
We have powder and shot to conquer the lot
we have cannon and ball to conquer them all
Old Christmas is past, twelve tide is the last
And we bid you adieu, great joy to the new
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7. |
Spanish Cloak
03:02
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One morning as I walked through fields and fine forest
I saw far above a maid on the mountain
She was stepping lightly like leaves falling off
And I thought if I could reach her
My heart would be as light as the birds singing there
By the side of that wild mountain stream
If I had the wings or the heart of that starling
Upwards I would fly to the arms of my darling
She would look upon me kindly and sweetly
I'd guard her forever from winter and winds
And dangers that lurk by the side of that wild mountain stream
But I was too free with all of the woman
And drink it was my friend on every occasion
Her father he wants for riches and plenty
And the man who could endow them with fame and fortune
Where all that I possess is my love for that wild mountain maid
Instrumental
And now that I am old and my bones they are weary
Time after time I return to that clearing
With sadness in my heart I search through the forest
Ever mindful of seeing the sign nor the sight of
That fair young maid by the side of that wild mountain stream
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8. |
We Rigged Our Ships
01:33
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We rigged our ships with lines of silver
Way, hey, and we'll all come down
We set our sails in New England waters
Way, hey, gonna bring her round
We scraped her decks till our backs were strong...
Caulked her seams with strands of oakum...
We oiled her rails with pans of linseed...
We sailed her up to the Beaufort Sea...
We sewed her sails with threads of seaweed...
We sailed her into Takoradi...
We filled her decks with bales of hay...
We ran her down to Casco Bay...
We filled her holds with rum for the winter...
We sailed her into old Bluffs harbor...
We rigged our ship with lines of silver...
We set our sails in New England waters...
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9. |
Farewell, Farewell
02:18
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Farewell, farewell to you who would hear
You lonely travelers all
The cold north wind will blow again
The winding road doth call
And will you never return to see
Your bruised and beaten sons
Oh I would, I would if welcome I were
For they loathe me every one
And will you never cut the cloth
Nor drink the light to be
And can you never swear a year
To anyone but he
No I will never cut the cloth
Nor drink the light to be
But I'll swear a year to he who lies
Asleep along side of me
Farewell, farewell to you who would hear
You lonely travelers all
The cold north wind will blow again
The winding road does call
Farewell, farewell
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10. |
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Three little drummers stood on the high ground.
They walked all about and they circled around.
When they were abreast, three in a line,
Then off they did go for to follow the sign.
Chorus:
Valley and stubble and river and rill,
Three little drummers came over the hill.
Three drummers from Africa leading the way
To play for the baby on Christmas day.
Baker and beggar, and soldier and Jew
Who do as they will or as other ones do.
When they were abreast, three in a line,
Then off they did go for to follow the sign...Chorus
Sheep in the pasture did wander afar,
To join with the others and follow the star.
When they were abreast, three in a line,
Then off they did go for to follow the sign...Chorus
Then cities did open and nations arise
To follow the kings and the light in the skies.
When they were abreast, three in a line,
Then off they did go for to follow the sign...Chorus
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11. |
The Leitrim Queen
03:45
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When youth was mine in health and prime
I longed for wealth and fame
An adventurous one her love controlled
Of Wicklow rebel strain
I wandered down to Edwardstown
Unknown, alone, unseen
I met a girl, a matchless pearl
My County Leitrim queen
Her hair was like the sun-kissed gold
Her cheeks a lily hue
No crayon, chisel, brooch or pen
Could express my colleen true
The beauty she possessed was rare
Her affection never I seen
And the love that mirrored from the eyes
Of my County Leitrim queen
Instrumental
Along the bent and primrose track
In life's young dawn we strolled
The plans we made, them prayers she said
As my love to her I told
The gentle pressure of her hand
Oh it all seems like a dream
God's will be done, she is gone, she is gone
My County Leitrim queen
For centuries on Leitrim's soil
Her great ancestors dwelled
Till one who married into them
Usurped the land they held
I saw the rose take from her cheeks
Her birthright's loss was keen
She pined, she died, my joy, my pride
God rest my Leitrim queen
Instrumental
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12. |
Parting Friends
02:13
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Farewell, my friends, I'm bound for Canaan,
I'm trav'ling through the wilderness;
Your company has been delightful,
You, who doth leave my mind distressed.
I go away, behind to leave you,
Perhaps never to meet again,
But if we never have the pleasure,
I hope we'll meet on Canaan's land.
Farewell, my friends, I'm bound for Canaan,
I'm trav'ling through the wilderness;
Your company has been delightful,
You, who doth leave my mind distressed.
I go away, behind to leave you,
Perhaps never to meet again,
But if we never have the pleasure,
I hope we'll meet on Canaan's land.
I go away, behind to leave you,
Perhaps never to meet again,
But if we never have the pleasure,
I hope we'll meet on Canaan's land.
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Atwater-Donnelly Warren, Rhode Island
Aubrey Atwater and Elwood Donnelly, present delightful programs of traditional American and Celtic folk songs, a capella pieces, old-time gospel songs, dance tunes, and original works, blending gorgeous harmonies with guitar, Appalachian mountain dulcimer, mandolin, tin whistle, harmonica, banjo, bones, spoons, limberjacks, and Appalachian clog dancing and French Canadian footwork. ... more
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